Machine for dishing metal



(No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. S. WORTH. MACHINE FOR DISHING METAL. No. 603,094. Patented Apr. 26, 1898.

INVENTOR:

tmmzs (No ModeL) 2 Sheets8heet 2.

J. S. WORTH. MACHINE FOR DISHING METAL.

No. 603,094. Patented Apr. 26, 1898.

L A K FIG. 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT @rrron I JOHN S. IVOR'II-I, OF COATESVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINE FOR DISHING METAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 603,094, dated April 26, 1898. Application filed October 19, 1897. Serial No. 655,657: (No model.)

.To aZZ whont it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN S. \IVORTH, of Coatesville,in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Dishing or Forming Metal, of which the following is a specification, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings.

In said drawings, Figure 1 represents a view, partly in side elevation and partly in vertical central section, through a machine embodying my invention." Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modified form of such machine, and Fig. 3 is a detail view of the forming-roller in the type of machine shown in Fig. 2.

Referring to the machine illustrated in Fig. 1., the construction is as follows:

The operative parts are supported and inclosed within a housing consisting of uprights A A and the horizontal top and bottom members A A, respectively. The bottom memher A which may'for' the purpose'of description be termed the base, supports and affords bearings for a vertical rotating shaft 0, carrying at its lower end a bevel-gear D, which meshes with a second bevel-gear E, mounted upon a shaft e, which is suitably supported in bearin gs e e and actuated from any convenient source of power. The enlarged upper end 0 of the shaft 0 is secured in the hub of a rotating former B, whose upper surface is adapted to support the metal which is to be dished or formed. In the instance shown the upper surface is concave, comprising curved portions 17 b of limited extent, while the center or intermediate part of the concavitybetween the limits of the curved portions is a plane surface, as indicated at 72 The configuration of the operative surface of the former in any instance may, however, as is well understood, be that which corresponds to the ultimate form desired in the metal which is to be dished or formed.

Supported upon the upper member A of the housings is a hydraulic cylinder F, having a piston-head f and suitable connections F F for the admission and discharge of fluid under pressure supplied and controlled in any convenient manner.

The piston or plunger G extends downward from said cylinder in line with the axis of rotation of the former B and terminates in a fiat enlargement g, on each side of which is secured a horizontal bar H, extending substantially across the full diameter of the former B. The enlargement g of the plunger forms a distance-piece between the bars at the center, and at each end of the pair of bars is similarly secured between them a horizon tally-projectiu g arm h, thus forming distancepieces at the extremities. The pair of bars thus forms a rigid horizontal frame having a longitudinal opening or interspace running substantially throughout its entire length and bodily movable by means of the hydraulic plunger. This frame I term the presserbeam.

The arms 71- h, projecting from each end of the presser-beam, engage with vertical guide-strips a a, secured upon the inner face of the uprights A A, so that the vertical movements of the presser-beam are maintained in correspondence with the plane of the axis upon which the former B rotates.

Arrangedlongitudinally within the interspace of the presser beam is a shaft I, mounted in bearings i, which extend across said interspace at each end of the beam, said shaft being also supported centrally in a bearing g, depending from the lower side of the enlarged portion g of the plunger G. The shaft I is threaded in opposite directions on those portions which lie between the central bearing g and the end bearings t t', as indicated at J J. Suitable mechanism is provided for rotating the shaft I, a convenient device being a toggle-coupling K, which is freely connected at it to the forked end of the shaft I and also connected at 7a to the forked end of the driving-shaft L, provided with fast whole suitably supported in a bracket N,

mounted upon the upright A. The object of sists of a pair of bifurcated downwardly-depending arms adapted to afford bearings for a horizontal shaft R or R, upon which is mounted a forming-roller Q or Q. The upper face of each carrier is adapted to bear firmly against, while sliding freely upon, the under surface of the presser-beam, and at that portion of the upper face of the carrier which is opposite to the interspace of the presser-beam an upwardly-projecting hub is provided, as indicated at P and P, through which the shaft I extends, the hubs P and P being respectively threaded to correspond and engage with the oppositely-threaded portions J J of said shaft. Thus rotation of the shaft I in one direction or the other will cause the carriers 0 O, with their forming-rollers Q Q, to travel toward or from one another along the under surface of the presser-beam,and consequently inward or outward with relation to the axis of the former B.

The face of the periphery of the formingrollers Q Q is curved, as indicated at q q, so as to properly bear upon and travel over the surface of the metal to be formed without catching or forming ridges therein.

The operation of this type of machine is as follows: The plunger G being raised to its extreme upward position carries the presserbeam and with it the forming-rollers Q Q clear above the former B. The sheet of metal which is to be dished or formed is then placed upon the edge or upper portion of the said former B. The former B is then rotated, and the plunger G is caused to descend, bringing the forming-rollers Q Q, which are then in their extreme outward position, to bear upon the upper surface of the metal. The rotation of the former B, accompanied by the slow downward movement of the plunger G and inward travel of the rollers Q Q, effects a continued bending or dishing of the metal from the edges toward the center of the plate under treatment, the actionbeing uniform through the entire surface thereof and being controllable by reason of the independent control of the downward and inward movements, respectively, of the forming-rollers. With a former whose concavity is that indicated in the drawings the limit of the downward movement of the forming-rollers would of course be at the circle where the curved surface of the concavity b b merges into the flat central portion thereof 17 but if the entire concavity is curved the dishing or forming can be continued practically to the center.

Referring now to the modified form of the apparatus illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, the general organization of the machine is substantially similar to that just described, and hence I deem it sufficient to merely indicate the main parts without reiterating the details of their construction or mode of operation. Thus the housings are shown at A the rotating former at B the shaft thereof at O and the actuating devices for the shaft at D E and e The hydraulic cylinder and its plunger are shown at F and G and the horizontal presser-beam at IP. The shaft P, which runs longitudinally within the interspace of said presser-beam, is threaded in opposite directions on opposite sides of the longitudinal center and provided at one end with a hand-wheel K whereby it may be rotated. Said shaft supports and engages 0peratively with the traveling roller-carriers M as in the other instance, but instead of mounting the rollers P directly in said carriers I support them upon swiveling frames N the details of which are shown-in Fig. 3. Said frames are oblong in shape to receive the elongated rollers P which are approximately cylindrical, but taper with a slight curvature from the longitudinal center toward each end. Therollers 1 are journaled upon spindles O which pass through the axes and are suitably mounted in opposite ends of the frame N Said frames are provided with lateral trunnions 'n n which are in turn journaled in the downwardly-depending ends of the roller-carriers M The broad features of operation of this device are those previously described, the difference being only in the character and behavior of the rollers. The presser-beam H 'being raised clear of the former B the sheet of metal to be treated is placed upon said former, and, the roller-carriages M having been adjusted or set at the proper point by means of the hand-wheel K and shaft I the presser-beam is forced downward by means of the plunger. The rollers P at first bear upon the frame in a substantially horizontal position, but as the downward motion of the presser-beam continues the inner ends of the rollers commence to tip downward, this motion being permitted by the swiveling frames M until the rollers and their frames have tilted into a position which brings the lower periphery of the rollers as nearly as possible into correspondence with the curvature of the former B The plate of metal R is thus dished or formed, as indicated in Fig. 2, by the mere depression of the rollers accompanied by their tilting movement, before described, and without travel of the roller-carriers. I have preferred to illustrate said roller-carriers as adj ustable by means of the threaded shaft I and hand-wheel, but obviously when the rollercarriers have been adjusted to any given position and maintained there they are to all intents and purposes fixed, so that While said means for adjusting the carriers is desirable it is not essential. It is also obvious that the modified type of the device just described could be used in connection with an automatically-actuated shaft for shifting the rollercarriers.

Having thus described my invention, I desire to call attention to the fact that although a hydraulic cylinder and plunger are specified as the preferred means for eifecting the downward movements of the presser-beam and forming-rollers and although a shaft having oppositely-threaded portions is described as the preferred means for efiecting the in ward and outward travel of the forming-rollers neither of said devices is essential to this end,-and hence I do not limit my claims to both or either of said specified forms of mechanism. I would further point out that while in the preferred organization of the device the forming-rollers are so mounted as to be capable of traveling toward and from the axis of the former, yet I do not desire to limit my claims in every instance to such traveling forming-rollers, as the device is efficient for some purposes when the forming-rollers re main at a fixed distance from the axis of the former.

I am aware that it is not new to use a roller in this class of machines nor to move said roller mechanically or by hand across the face of the metal, and I am also aware that the use of a rotating former is'not new. Hence I do not claim, broadly, the said devices.

I claim- 1. Thecombination,witharotatableformer provided with actuating mechanism, of a bodily-movable presser-beam arranged with re lation to the'former,substantially as set forth; actuating mechanism connected with said presser beam, whereby the same may be shifted toward or from the former; a shaft mounted in said presser-beam and provided at different portions with oppositely-inclined screw-threads actuating mechanism for said shaft; a pairof bodily-movable roller-carriers mounted on said beam to slide longitudinally thereon and directly engaging respectively with the threaded portions of said shaft; and forming rollers mounted in said carriers, whereby, during the travel of said roller-carriers longitudinally uponsaid presser-beam, said rollers are directly thrust against the metal by the movement of the presser-beam with relation to the former, substantially as forth.

2. The combinatiomwith a rotatable former provided with actuating mechanism; of a bodily-movable presser-beam arranged with relation to the former substantially as set forth; vertical guides for said presser-beam; actuating mechanism for said presser-beam adapted to move the same in the direction of the axis of rotation of the former; a rotatable shaft mounted in said presser-beam, said shaft having portions threaded in opposite directions; a toggle-coupling connected with said shaft; a rotating driving-shaft connected With said toggle-coupling; a pair of traveling roller-carriers engaging operatively with the respective threaded portions of said shaft; and a pair of forming-rollers mounted in said carriers respectively, substantially as set forth.

3. Thecombinatiomwitharotatableformer provided with actuating mechanism, of a bodily-movable presser-beam arranged with relation to the former, substantially as set forth; actuating mechanism connected with said presser-beam; an elongated open frame carried by said presser-beam and pivotally mounted at or near its longitudinal center and an elongated forming-roller rotatably mounted in said frame upon an axis transverse to the aforesaid pivotal axis of the frame, whereby, during the movement of the 'presser-beam with relation to the formensaid roller may freely adapt itself to the desired configuration of the metal while positively dishing the same, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination,witl1a rotatable frame .provided with actuating mechanism, of a 'threaded'portions of said shaft; a pair of swiveling frames pivotally mounted at ornear their longitudinal centers upon said carriers and freely movable with relation thereto; and a pair of elongated forming-rollers rotatably mounted in said frames upon an axis transverse to the aforesaid pivotal axis of the frame, substantially as set forth.

JOHN S. l VORTH.

Witnesses Gr. HERBERT JENKINS, E. REESE.

upon an axis transverse to said presser-beam; 

